May 12, 2025

Kohli's Career: From Mastering Big 100s to India's Most Successful Test Captain

A Deep Dive into Kohli's Stellar Test Career

Kohli retires as India's most successful captain in the format, leading them to 40 Test wins, including 16 away from home. He also finishes as India's fourth-highest run getter (9230) and fourth-highest century maker (30).

Kohli's Test Career in Numbers

Player	Mat	Inngs	Runs	Ave	100s	50s
SR Tendulkar	200	15921	53.78	51	68	248*
R Dravid	163	13265	52.63	36	63	270
SM Gavaskar	125	10122	51.12	34	45	236*
V Kohli	123	9230	46.85	30	31	254*
VVS Laxman	134	8781	45.97	17	56	281
V Sehwag	103	8503	49.43	23	31	319

Kohli's Journey to Becoming India's Middle Order Talisman

Kohli first showed he belonged to the format in the disastrous 2011/12 tour Down Under, where he emerged as the sole shining light, finishing the visitor's leading run getter and their only century maker in a 0-4 drubbing.

Kohli's Career in Three Phases

Period	Mat	Inngs	Runs	Ave	100s	50s	HS
Debut – Sep 2014	29	51	1855	39.47	6	9	119
Dec 2014 – Mar 2020	57	94	5385	61.19	21	13	254*
Since Dec 2020	37	65	1990	32.09	3	9	186

Kohli's Peak and Slump

After his gigantic 2016-19 peak, a natural slump was on the cards, but unfortunately for Kohli, he could never reach the heights and standard he had previously set himself.

Kohli's Captaincy Career

Kohli has led India to most number of Test wins (40), 13 more than the second best, 16 of those 40 were away wins including twin series wins in Sri Lanka and West Indies as well as becoming the first Asian skipper to win a Test rubber in Australia, the crowning glory of his captaincy.

Kohli's Captaincy in Numbers

Led India to 40 Test wins
16 away wins
Win percentage of 58.82
Scored 5864 runs at 54.80
Scored 20 centuries

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Kohli’s career from being India’s most successful Test captain to mastering big 100s